How to Raise an Ox by Francis Dojun CookReview by: Stanley F. LombardoJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 102, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1982), p. 148Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/601135 .

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148 Journal of the American Oriental Society 102.1 (1982)

with questions of how many languages there really are, what their areal distribution is, and like facts which cannot be taken for granted. Zorc examines the major languages which have been conventionally assigned to the Bisayan group and looks for facts which make it reasonable to deduce that these are indeed a subgroup as opposed to other languages of the Philippines. This brief statement does not do justice to the complexity of the task, for it is also necessary to address the relationship of these with other groups of the Central Philip- pines, and what distinguishes the Central Philippine languages from others in the Philippines. All this involved fieldwork in more than fifty Central Philippine dialects, the majority of which are separate languages. Zorc looked at no less than 36 in the Bisayan group alone. (Whoever estimated eighty-two as the total number of languages in the Philippines was ap- parently far below the actual number, since the Central Philippines alone has 36, four times as many as have been traditionally counted. Although the linguistic situation has turned out be far more complex than anyone thought possible before Zorc's fieldwork, Zorc has developed important tools for dealing with this complexity and bringing order into seeming chaos, and this is where his work is a contribution to the theory of historical linguistics. He develops a list of lexical items which allow for a certain type of subgrouping, and another list of grammatical items which also allow for a type of subgrouping. And the amazing thing is that the results of the two types of subgrouping are consistent with one another and make complete sense.

Only after order is put into the picture of linguistic chaos that first presents itself, does Zorc go on to do the more traditional reconstruction. The grammar of the Bisayan lan- guages is presented and worked out in considerable detail- not only the phonology and inflectional morphology, but all aspects of the productive morphology and a great deal of syntax, including the developments of particles of all sorts- discourse particles, deictics, pronouns, markers, and a great deal more.

In place of a glossary there is an index of close to 600 lexical items with reference to complete discussion in the text, which serve approximately the same purpose. All this is presented with an incredible richness of detail and exemplification, at the same time with admirable clarity and precision. In more than three hundred pages of tightly-packed facts, I cannot find a single inconsistency or error in form. This work deserves to become a classic for Austronesian linguistics.

JOHN U. WOLFF

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

How to Raise an Ox. By FRANCIS DoJUN COOK. Pp. xvi +

211 + I chart. Los Angeles, CENTER PUBLICATIONS. 1978. $5.95.

The title is from an anecdote in Dogen's Sho-bogenzo: Yuan-Chih explains his thirty years of Zen practice as noth- ing other than raising a water buffalo. Cook here presents translations of nine chapters of the Shobogenzo with brief notes and a substantial introduction (91 pp.). Also included is a translation of the "Fukan Zazengi," Dogen's general in- structions for doing zazen. This is in keeping with Cook's primary purpose in this book, which is "to help the reader to gain a better understanding of what it means to practice Zen, particularly in the Sot6 form established by Ddgen Zenji"

(p. xv.). The selections from the Shobogenzo are well-chosen for

this purpose; many are interesting for other reasons as well. The chapter entitled "Raihai Tukuzui" ("Paying Homage and Acquiring the Essence") is a remarkable tract against reli- gious sexism in 13th century Japan. In "Gyoji" ("Continuous Practice") we see Dogen's reforming zeal as he presents for emulation the severe practices of a long line of Chinese masters. One cannot read Dogen without being made aware on almost every page of the originality of his mind and his seminal contributions to Zen thought. Much of Dogen's force resides in the idiosyncrasies of his language, and Cook deserves considerable credit as translator for his lucid and natural rendition of this notoriously difficult material. The notes are to the point and authoritative; the genealogical chart of Chinese Masters in quite helpful.

Cook's introductory essays contain a useful examination of Dogen's main themes, but there is much here that is as brusquely or subtly protreptic as D6gen's own exhortations. This adds unnecessary length and can be unsettling. One would prefer, in the balance, more Dogen and less Cook, but this should not deter anyone from reading the introduction, where Cook's scholarship and perceptiveness are as evident and welcome as in the rest of the book.

STANLEY F. LOMBARDO

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

Politics and PolicY in Traditional Korea. By JAMES B. PALAIS.

Pp. vi + 390. (Harvard East Asian Series 82.) Cambridge, Mass. and London, England: HARVARD UNIVERSITY

PRESS. 1975. $18.50.

The crisis of foreign imperialism hit Yi Korea during the years 1864 to 1876, somewhat later than in Ch'ing China and Tokugawa Japan. What Korean leaders chose to do (or not do) at this time determined the fate of the nation. For most of the period, the dominant figure in Seoul was Yi Ha-ing, the Taew6n'gun, father of the boy-king Kojong and de facto regent. So important was he that the decade 1864-1873 is often referred to as the "decade of the Taew6n'gun."

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